Improvement in machines for stripping cane



'0. c. FLINT.

Cane Strippenl No. 54,880. Patented May 22. 1866.

In ventn r.

N.FETERS, FHDRLLITMOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON D C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DELOS O. FLINT, OF BUSHNELL, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR STRIPPING CANE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 54,880, dated May 22, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

-Be it known that I, Drums 0. FLINT, of Bushnell, in the county of McDonough and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Machine for Stripping Leaves from Sorghum or Sugar (Jane, and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of my invention, and Fig. 2 is a central vertical transverse section of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both'figures.

This invention consists in a machine composed of a movable and fixed cutter or stripper arranged opposite each other and auxiliary strippers moving transversely thereto, all arranged and fitted in such a manner as to be capable of adjusting themselves to cane of different thickness, and also to suit the varying thickness or taper of each individual cane as the latter is drawn through or between them to strip the leaves, sheath, and outer edge of joint therefrom. In using the two principal strippers and the auxiliary ones, the opening through which the cane passes can beincreased or diminished in size, and always bear a proportion to a circular opening, more perfectly than hitherto attained in machines constructed for a similar purpose, and on this account the leaves, sheath, and outer edge of joint are certain to be stripped from the entire length and surface of the cane.

Some of the advantages claimed for this invention are, first, the saving of hand-labor 5 second, the more perfect stripping and cleans ing the cane from leaves and fodder than when the operation is performed by hand; third, the stripping of all theleaves at one spot, so that they can be more readily collected and used for the purpose of feeding stock; fourth, the

' prevention of injury to the operator in feeding this machine, also in feeding the ordinary cane-mill through this machine.

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and operate myinvention, I will proceed to describe it, having reference to the accompanying drawings.

The frame A is provided with two vertical parallel standards or guides, B B. These slot, g,

standards have grooves b b on their inner opposite sides and parallel to each other. Between these grooves is situated a movable jaw or block, E, faced with a steel plate or stripper,

E, the lower edge of which is concave or semicircular. This jaw is kept down to its work by a spiral (or otherwise constructed) spring, D, the one end of which rests against the upper end of the block E, and the opposite end rests against the cap 0. This cap is attached to the end of a screw, 0, intended, by varying its distance from the block E, to increase or diminish the downward pressure of the spring 0.

Situated directly below the upper movable stripper or jaw, E, is the lower fixed stripper, H, having grooves h h running from the lower part of the center of its face at an angle of about forty-five degrees (45) up toward its outer edges. The upper edges of the stripper H form a concave semicircle similar to the lower edge of stripper E.

Attached to the stripper H by means of a screw, 9', is a triangular-shaped plate of steel or other metal, G, having a vertical central and adjustable to a limited extent in a vertical direction. This plate is intended to prevent the nibs or points ff of the auxiliary strippers F F from coming too near together. The auxiliary strippers FF are each attached to and move abdut one central pivot, f ,j which is rigidly secured to the block E. The inner opposite edges of these strippers F F are areshaped or curved to such an extent that the aperture formed by the four combined edges of strippers E F H is almost a circle, no matter what distance apart they may be situated. The lower ends of the strippers F F are turned toward the stripper H, and the ends f f, thus formed or turned in, fit into the angular grooves h h, one on each side, and when the block E is forced upward by the increased thickness of the cane passing through the strippers, the strippers F F are forced apart by the ends acting against'the upwardly-diverging grooves h h.

The red outlines shown in Fig. 1 represent the position of the strippers F F when opened to their full extent and the stripper E is also raised upward to its full capacity.

I intend a certain number of these sets of strippers to be arranged in aframe with their openings ranging horizontally with the center of the ordinary cane-mill, and they are to be fed by hand, the rollers of the mill drawing the cane through and stripping the leaves, sheath and joint edges therefrom, these leaves all falling below in one spot, convenient to be gathered up and carried away for foddering of cattle, 85c.

Havingdcscribed myinvention, whatIolaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

1. In combination with the strippers E H, the auxiliary hinged or jointed strippers F F, attached to the movable stripper E, and operated by the action of the upwardly-discribed.

DELOS O. FLINT. Witnesses:

A. 'l. TURNEY, W. P. MORSE. 

